AllanThinks

Remembered

On the Saturday following Memorial Day, a ceremony was taking place at the Lexington Cemetery to remember those who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, and who are buried there.

Alison and I happened upon it by accident. I don't know what organization was holding this memorial service, but it was a surprising sight to see these flags and flowers planted by each gravestone.

These soldiers are all buried in one section of the cemetery, near to, but not a part of the section that serves as our National Cemetery.

I guess whoever was doing this did not want these men, who were someone's children, brothers, or fathers, to be forgotten.

Our First CSA Share

Clicking the image will take you to its Flickr page. You can see a larger version there.

This is the haul for our first week's garden and meat shares from Elmwood Stock Farm. Elmwood is one of two (that we know of) CSA Farms in our area. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

We've been talking about participating in this program for a while, wanting to do what we can to be more responsible consumers. And we found that we had been buying more of our food from local farms at the Farmer's Market.

So this year we finally signed up.

Included in our basket this week were:

Asparagus
Green Garlic
Spinach
A mixture of three lettuces
A quart of fresh strawberries
A pound of ground beef
A free-range roasting chicken

All of these are organically raised. The newsletter included in the box said they also had radishes, but they must have had limited quantities, as we didn't get any.  But that's okay.

We are very pleased with what we did receive. It was more than I expected this early in the season. 

We ate the lettuce last night, and today at lunch. We had strawberries for dessert. Tonight, Ali roasted the hen, and some of the asparagus. It was all great. We're going to eat very well this summer.

FreeKY

This is a photo of a troupe of fire dancers called Foxfire Hypnotica, who performed during the FreeKY Festival, a free festival of music, art and exhibitions of eclectic culture, held on April 26 in downtown Lexington. It was the culmination of Alternative Music Week, sponsored by WRFL, the independent, commercial free, student run radio station at the University of Kentucky.

The entire week of concerts, art shows, and other events also served as 20th anniversary celebration, and a fund raiser for the station, which plans to increase their power, and reach a wider audience.

Alison and I attended several of the events during the week, including a concert feathering Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, at The Dame the Saturday before FreeKY, a bluegrass music show at Al's Bar, and a concert and art show held at our friend Lori's shop Isle of You.

The FreeKY Festival began at 11 a.m. and continued until almost midnight, featuring a number of bands, an art exhibit, vendor booths, and community group exhibitions. The musical headliners were Jolie Holland, and The Apples In Stereo. We hope that they decide to throw another party like this next year.

Ali and I got there around 3, and stayed until it ended. We took our cameras, and we both took tons of photos. You can see her set here, and mine, here.

As always, the photo is clickable.

 

Engine 6

Clicking the image will take you to its Flickr page. You can see a larger version there.

Took this Friday night at the Little Kentucky Derby Balloon Glow.

All of the participants in the next day's hot air balloon races inflated their balloons and displayed them until after sunset for the enjoyment of the public.

The fire engine was a bonus.

Apparently the balloons did not race on Saturday due to the weather, so I am glad I got to see them the night before.

There are a couple of more shots from the event on my Flickr photostream.

Stones

Clicking the image will take you to its Flickr page. You can see a larger version there.

We went out to the Lexington Cemetery the weekend before last with a friend who was visiting from out of town, who wanted to take photos there.

This is one of the shots I took that day. We had had 4 inches of snow the night before. It had been many years since I was there after a snow storm. It looks completely different, but no less beautiful.

Exposure:  0.006 sec (31/5000)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 82 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Micro Cosmos

Clicking the image will take you to its Flickr page. You can see a larger version there.

I was looking on a DVD for another older photo to try a crop on when I ran across this one taken about the same time.

I don't know why I didn't post this back in September.

Exposure:  0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority

A tip for locals who like fresh, cheap, raw oysters.

A couple of months ago, our friend Agnes mentioned that a local restaurant, The Ketch Seafood Grill, had a special on oysters every Monday night. Fresh oysters at half their usual price.

It has been years since I dined there. Alison and I have been meaning to go for some time, but never made it until last night.

We shared a platter of a dozen oysters on the half-shell. You can get them raw, or steamed. We chose to eat them raw. The dozen oysters only cost $5.95, a real bargain around these parts. Alison noted that that is comparable to what you would pay in the city where she lived in France. With them, Ali had a glass of white wine, and I had a draft beer.

When we were finished, we decided to stay for dinner. We shared a pound of boiled shrimp seasoned with Old Bay, and an order of wood grilled oysters, both very good, and quite affordable.

I am really glad to have rediscovered this place. I have a feeling we will be dining there quite often.

Oh yeah, they also have free wireless internet.

Home, Sweet Home

Alison, her kids, and I made it home late yesterday afternoon after an exhausting journey involving more airports than I ever wish to see in the course of a day again.

After a simple dinner of sandwiches, I sorted through the accumulated mail, and Ali and the kids watched a movie. We were all in bed, asleep, by ten. Of course, that means we were up earlier than we would have liked. Ali and I were awake and making a pot of coffee at 5. The kids stayed in bed a bit longer.

But, at least, we got a good night's sleep, and a head start on getting over the jet lag. And we will be able to get out and about to do some last minute shopping before the crowds hit the local retail areas.

After we are done with the shopping, I'm thinking it might be a good day to build a fire in the fireplace and watch movies.

I hope your Saturday will be filled with family, fun, and love.

Damn

UK lost to the Tennessee Volunteers today in the 4th overtime. The final score was 52-50.

I'm proud of the Cats. It was a hell of a game, a season to remember, and we will be going to a bowl.

But it would have been nice to beat Tennessee, because nothing sucks like a big orange.

Election Day

Alison and I will be heading to the polls to cast our votes in state-wide elections today. This is one election where I really feel like my vote matters and will make a difference. That hasn't happened a lot in the past 10 years or so.

The last time it felt like it mattered was the congressional elections last November. Unfortunately, the change that I thought my vote would help bring about didn't happen.

I hope I am not disappointed again.